


Don't Ask For An Alibi

by puffinmuffin13



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: How Do I Tag, Multi, Talentswap, Time Loop, Too many relationships to tag - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-05-31 21:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 11,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15127835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puffinmuffin13/pseuds/puffinmuffin13
Summary: Kokichi stared down at his whiteboard. He was utterly, completely, doomed. Why? Unless, for some miraculous, god-forsaken reason he messed up his calculations, Kokichi was the Ultimate Child Caregiver - and the Ultimate Assassin, too.





	1. Confusion

**Author's Note:**

> I have to warn you: don't expect regular updates. At all. And the fic's kinda confusing but I hope I'll be able to explain everything. Have a great day!

Kokichi stared at the locker door in front of him. "How...?" he whispered, his mind running through the possibilities of how he ended up here when his last memory was one of dying from poison just before the press came down, but eventually all his theories were disproven and Kokichi was left with nothing. _That's not the only thing..._

Kokichi could still feel his signature scarf, but it felt different, more like a bandana. It was unsettling. And was he wearing a black hoodie, tight t-shirt, and sweatpants? _What's going on? Who did this?_

Ugh. If he wanted answers he would have to work for them, wouldn't he? Kokichi pushed open the locker door and stumbled into a desk.

"Hey!" Kiibo's voice called, and Kokichi looked up to see - wait, what?

It was Kiibo, but not. The Kiibo he knew didn't have _a gray uniform, sky blue hat, and sky blue and white cape that was oddly similar to the one Kokichi had worn in his motive video._ Kokichi stared at Kiibo until he started to look uncomfortable.

"Ah... Hi? Are you okay?" Kiibo asked, and Kokichi blinked. What was with this different outfit and attitude?

"I'm fine," Kokichi replied warily. Did Kiibo forget him somehow? Why was he pretending to be concerned?

"What happened? Why am I here?" Kokichi asked, taking a step towards Kiibo and scowling. Kiibo backed up with every step Kokichi took, looking nervous bordering on scared. What was with that? What was with any of this?

"H-hold on!" Kiibo said, trying to look brave. "I-I don't know why I'm here either! However, it is evident that we were kidnapped and brought here!" 

Kokichi froze. And grew even angrier.

"Evident? You call this merely 'EVIDENT?!'" Kokichi screamed. "WHAT THE HELL?! OF COURSE WE'VE BEEN KIDNAPPED, AND YOU'RE ACTING LIKE YOU DON'T KNOW ME AND - AND!"

Kokichi stopped when he saw Kiibo was near tears. _What the hell?_ Kokichi blinked. And blinked again. _... Did I mess up somehow?_

Kokichi stared, blank faced, at Kiibo. _What should I do now? I need a place to calm down and think. Wait! I know!_

"Forget it," Kokichi muttered as he stormed past Kiibo and to the door of the classroom. _Forget it like you apparently forgot about me and all I've done._

... Kokichi could really go for some grape Panta right now.

\---

Kokichi sat on the floor of the girls' restroom, grape soda in hand. After a quick trip to the warehouse to get his drink (and having quite a "fun" time avoiding everyone), he left to the one place he knew would be freely open and that Kiibo wouldn't follow him into - supposing this was like last time, and Kiibo tried to hang out with him. Kokichi took another swig of Panta and thought about it.

_He's definitely human, and I definitely died. Is this hell? Heh, who am I kidding; I figured that out already. But why am I back? Is this punishment for something? Punishment for getting Gonta dead?_

... Kokichi decided to ignore that thought and move on.

 _Wait, if he's human, and our clothes are different... Oh my god, if I'm right, I'm going to slap that stupid bear into the void._ Kokichi had a ridiculous idea, something so crazy he couldn't believe it without more proof. But if it was, this really was hell.

The restroom door opened.

Kokichi snapped his head up to see the worrying thought that had been in the back of his mind had come true. Tenko and Himiko stared down at him, Tenko livid and Himiko confused. _Welp, time to lie._

"Hi! I'm Kokichi Ouma! Though I may not look it, I'm a girl, so don't call me a boy, okay?" Kokichi said cheerfully, standing up and trying to look as friendly as he'd seen Kaede be before she died. "What're your names?"

Tenko relaxed, obviously glad there wasn't a "degenerate male" in the girls' restroom. "Ah! Tenko is Tenko Chabashira! And Tenko is glad to find another cute girl here!"

 _I'm cute?_ Kokichi thought, but Tenko continued.

"Why are you hiding in here? Did any of the degenerate males do something to you?" Tenko asked, and Kokichi took the opportunity to look over both her and Himiko.

Tenko wore a black coat similar to the one you'd see on ringmasters, with purple lining the edges. Instead of her usual green bow, she wore a fancy purple top hat, and the rest of her outfit - a skirt, tights, boots, and hair bows - was strangely similar to Himiko's old one, but gold to fit the new color scheme. Odd, but Kokichi could understand it, if his hypothesis turned out to be true.

Himiko, on the other hand, had a knee length gray pencil skirt, silver suit, and red flannel shirt on. Her witch's hat was replaced with a gray cloche with a red ribbon, and she wore long black gloves to match her short high heels. With a white hair clip and tights to complete her outfit, Kokichi couldn't deny that the look looked very odd on Himiko.

Oh, right. Kokichi should respond.

"No, just," Kokichi gave a sniffle, building off his earlier outburst at Kiibo. "I thought he remembered me, but... I guess it's been so long he forgot." He finished his lie with a convincing sigh.

Tenko was immediately filled with sympathy, and rushed over to give Kokichi a hug. He stiffened. "You poor girl! Tell Tenko which degenerate male forgot you and she'll be sure to curse them!"

Kokichi struggled to get out of Tenko's grip, and he thought he saw Himiko give him a pitying look, like "Just give in. It'll be over soon." "What? You'd do that for me? I'm flattered, really, but -" Kokichi barely resisted elbowing Tenko in the gut just to get away, "- but it's fine! I already yelled at him! No need for further punishment!"

Tenko released Kokichi, and he rubbed his sides where she had hugged him. "If Kokichi says so! But Tenko still thinks she should curse him!"

Kokichi decided to move the conversation along before this got any weirder. "Who are you?" he asked, pointing at Himiko. Himiko started.

"I'm Himiko Yumeno! The Ultimate -" Himiko's words were punctured by a yawn. "Maid."

So Kokichi's hypothesis was correct: everyone's talents had somehow changed. The only question was, what was _his_ talent...?

"Ah! And Tenko is the Ultimate Magician! Tenko apologizes for not introducing herself before!" Tenko said quickly, and then it was Kokichi's turn. Luckily, he had a good idea for an alibi.

"Those are some awesome talents! Too bad I don't know what mine is..." Kokichi gave them a pouty face to rival even Himiko's.

"What?!" Tenko yells, and honestly Kokichi can't blame her. _I wonder if I got it right, and I've actually forgotten my talent in this universe..._ "Just like Tsumugi?!" Tenko continued, and Kokichi thought, _Oh, never mind._

"Yeah, but it's fine. I don't really mind, and I'm sure I'll figure it out later, you know?" Kokichi examined his fingernails offhandedly, his other hand playing with the heavy pendant he pulled out from underneath his hoodie. _It's probably the only distinctive part of my outfit, and even the stone is black,_ Kokichi mused.

Tenko tapped her fingers together awkwardly. "Okay! If Kokichi is sure!"

Himiko sighed, interrupting the two. "This is such a pain... Just tell me what to do so I can do it already..."

Kokichi tilted his head, intrigued. Himiko actually asking for work? What was up with that? "But wouldn't that inconvenience you?"

Himiko gave him a bored look. "... No. That wouldn't be a pain. Doing nothing is a pain. I need a job."

"Ah, I see!" Kokichi nodded in understanding and quickly left the restroom before they could rope him into further conversation. He still had thirteen people to meet, after all.

And a mastermind to take down.

\- STUDENTS LEFT: 16 -


	2. Damn It, I Got a Nosebleed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi gets a nosebleed, and meets a new friend. Or as close as you can get to a friend in a yet-to-be-announced killing game.

Kokichi slipped out of the restroom, glancing around for anyone. Not seeing anyone, he let out a breath and tapped his half-empty Panta bottle against the palm of his hand.

Everyone's talents had changed, and Kokichi had a decent cover for not knowing what his was. That was good. If Kokichi said his talent was one thing but it was also someone else's, he'd be in a lot of trouble that would waste too much time to get out of. And if everything moved as fast as it did last time, he couldn't afford that.

Nor could he afford to waste any time thinking about how FREAKING WEIRD it was that he woke up after _dying,_ nor the _talent swap_ that somehow happened, nor talking to Kiibo again after he made it _so awkward..._

Oh. Right. He still had to deal with that.

Kokichi sighed, heading towards the dining hall and putting off meeting Kiibo again until he "met" some other people first. Was it really meeting if he knew them, but not technically, and they didn't know him? Heck if he knew.

The door slammed open into Kokichi's face.

"Oh my Atua! Are you alright?" said what Kokichi _thought_ was Angie's voice, but it sounded a little off. Kokichi tried to wipe the bloody nose he got, but the door slammed into him hit right where he busted his head open falling through the floorboard, and honestly Kokichi wasn't feeling too hot. He felt cold arms guiding him a chair and slumped over the dining room table.

Kokichi brought a hand up to his forehead as he heard some water running and someone moving in the kitchen behind him. His hand came away clean, and Kokichi sighed with relief that he was just dizzy. Blinking away some of the pain, Kokichi almost didn't register when someone came back with a damp paper towel and handed it to him.

Kokichi held the towel to his nose and tried to smile thankfully at whoever helped him, but he couldn't quite focus his eyes, so for now he just closed them.

"Hey, hey!" Someone said, and Kokichi felt himself being shaken lightly by the shoulders. "You're not allowed to die on me, or on Atua! Atua says hang in there!"

Huh, so it most likely _was_ Angie. Kokichi waved a hand and murmured, "I'm okay, just give me a moment."

Angie breathed a sigh of relief, barely audible to Kokichi. "Good! Atua says it would be a pity if a divine human was hurt by his creator's divine creation, nyahaha!"

... Human?

A theory as to her talent already in his mind, Kokichi opened an eye to see Angie, but with yellow and silver plating to show she was a robot - or, in her words, "Atua's divine creation." Yep, definitely the Ultimate Robot. Well, that was one more person down.

Now if he could just get his nose to stop bleeding. That would be great.

"Atua says you need an ice pack," Angie said, bringing one over. "Oh! And to introduce myself! Nyahaha, how silly of Angie not to introduce herself before. Angie is A-N-G-1-3, also known as Angie! Angie is the Ultimate Robot, and with the help of her inner voice Atua, will learn all she can about humans and become as human as she can! Woohoo!"

Kokichi looked at her curiously, taking the ice pack to place against his pounding head. Now that the first wave of pain had passed, he felt much better - though he still had questions. "Atua?"

"A-7-U-4, also known as Atua! Angie's creator implanted Atua in Angie to help her when things are difficult to understand, or when Angie doesn't know what to do! Nyaha, Atua is like a loving god, gracing Angie with his wisdom!"

"..." _Atua didn't help Angie last... Loop? Yeah, this seems like a time loop. But maybe Atua will be of more help this time?_

A wry thought occurred to Kokichi. _If nothing else, Angie probably won't start another cult this time._

"Now it's your turn! Who is the divine human Angie hurt? Oh, accidentally, of course!" Angie spun around and plopped down in a chair next to Kokichi.

 _She's still going with that "divine" thing...?_ "I'm Kokichi Ouma. I don't remember my talent, but nishishi, that's fine! Just don't anger me~..." Kokichi gave her a vague threat, remembering that since he snapped at Kiibo he should probably keep up an act of hostility, even if it brought back bad memories of pretending to be the mastermind. "Oh! And I'm actually a girl, so don't think I'm a boy, even if I do seem to be one of the few girls not wearing a skirt!"

Angie got an odd but excited look on her face. It was the same face she used when pronouncing her "student council" to everyone, and Kokichi shivered. "Well then, perhaps, since Angie has no need for them, Kokichi could wear her clothes so people do not mistake her as male, nyaha?"

Kokichi relaxed, relieved that Angie's idea wasn't going to end in two murders, a class trial, and the deaths of three of his classmates this time. "No thanks! I'm good!" he chirped.

Angie gave another nod, and as she started to speak Kokichi realized his nose wasn't bleeding anymore. "Alrighty then! Angie and Atua will do their best to... To... Angie doesn't know. But Atua is working on it now!"

"Sure, sure," Kokichi said as he got up to throw his bloody paper towel away. It was best if he got meeting everyone over with quickly, so he could figure out what talent he had. So far, at least, everyone seemed to have the same talents as last time, just that those talents were owned by different people... "Welp, I'm gonna go now, so don't wait up on me! Nishishi, see you later, Angie!"

"Bye-onara!" Angie called, and Kokichi nonchalantly left the dining hall, leaving Angie, Atua, and the used ice pack behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, yeah. Mostly a filler chapter. I can't write meeting others all that well. But I hope you liked it! Please comment as I really love it when you do, and have a great day!


	3. The Pianist and the Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi has a weird feeling of deja vu, and Kokichi picks up on it as he continues to run from his problems.
> 
> Honestly a pretty bad summary.

After leaving the dining hall, Kokichi decided that he should probably take a look around outside, if that was open by now - Kokichi remembered last loop when he didn't know the front door was locked and made a fool of himself trying to open it. That was embarrassing.

Almost as embarrassing as nearly walking straight into Shuichi and Kaede. What was with him and smacking into things today?

"EH?!" Kokichi said, tripping over himself in his attempts to backpedal. "What the hell?! Where the hell did you two come from?!"

"Ah! Sorry!" Kaede said, but it was too late, because Kokichi fell back on his rump. Kaede looked bashful, standing awkwardly over him, and Shuichi looked torn between helping him up and letting him get up on his own. Kokichi rubbed his head, annoyed by these two startling him into falling over when one of the things Kokichi prided himself on was his balance.

"Are you alright?" Kaede asked, extending a hand and bending slightly to offer to help Kokichi up. Kokichi hesitatated, remembering that he shouldn't trust anyone _let alone a murderer,_ but he eventually took her hand, brushing the dirt off his pants. Kokichi gave Kaede and Shuichi a light glare.

"I'm fine, but jeez, look where you're going... Anyway, who are you two? I'm Kokichi Ouma!"

Kokichi decided to let it go, being much more curious about whether Kaede would kill this timeline than he was annoyed at running into them. In the background, Shuichi covered his eyes with his cap.

Kaede looked happy to see he was fine. _What a welcome change._ "It's nice to meet you Kokichi! I'm Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Cosplayer! And this is Shuichi Saihara; he's the Ultimate Pianist!"

Shuichi mumbled something about not being that great of a pianist, and while Kaede encouraged him Kokichi analyzed the two.

It did make sense, now that Kokichi thought about it, for Kaede to be the Ultimate Cosplayer. She was wearing an outfit similar to that one Vocaloid or whatever everyone was always cosplaying, and the only main differences were that the accent color was lavender, not blue, and the hair clip thingies (Kokichi had no idea what they were called, and didn't really care anyway) were silver and gray instead of reddish pink and black. Kaede definitely looked like a cosplayer.

Shuichi's talent, on the other hand, was a little less obvious.

He still had his hat, and wore mostly black, but that's where the similarities ended. Instead of his detective coat, he wore a black jacket with some company logo on it, and black dress pants instead of the weird stripey jeans he wore before. He also had a white professional collar shirt, a fancy new watch, and a black bowtie with little music notes on it. Finally, his hat had a little music note on it where the star would be, and he seemed just a little less uncomfortable with the attention Kaede was giving him than he would normally be. Perhaps he was used to people looking at him from performing on stage?

Kokichi didn't know. But he hoped _this_ Shuichi wouldn't bore him, and at least be as entertaining as the last one.

Kokichi ignored the thought that this Shuichi might refuse him too.

"Oh, that's right! Kokichi, what's your talent? You never told us!" Kaede asked, and Shuichi looked a little curious too. Welp, time to lie - again.

"Oh, I don't remember my talent! But don't worry! I'm sure I'll remember it sooner or later, nishishi!" Kokichi flippantly said, waving his hand as if to dismiss the concerns Kaede was sure to voice. "Buuuut, if we're done here, then that means I can go get another bottle of Panta! See you later!" Kokichi yelled as he ran off. He wasn't good at leaving like a normal person, as any past interaction anyone had had with him in the last loop was sure to testify for. He might as well embrace it.

Thankfully he didn't run into anyone else as he ran off, but Kokichi did have something to think about.

When he dashed off, he almost missed the look Shuichi gave him. And he almost didn't see the confusion and question of "do I know you?" in Shuichi's eyes. If Kokichi didn't know any better, he could almost trick himself into thinking Shuichi was in a time loop too, but unfortunately he did know better. Shame, because Kokichi could have done with a game-stopping partner.

But the last time Kokichi had a "game-stopping partner" was too sharp and fresh, and Kokichi also knew he couldn't trick himself into thinking he could do that again. It just wasn't going to happen.

And if it did, if Kokichi found himself getting attached to someone again, he'd force himself to remember the last time, and keep his promise to himself to never, ever trust another person.

He couldn't afford to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hhhhh I have no real excuse for not writing much for like two weeks but if you'll take it I was moving. Also have a great day.


	4. A Greetings and an Apology

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did I mention I'm bad at people-meeting chapters? Cause I'm bad at people-meeting chapters.

The next person Kokichi met was Tsumugi, who was badgering Gonta with survival tips.

Oh, that and questions about space.

"Gonta really not know! Gonta still studying!" Kokichi could hear the two better as he got closer. He paused right before joining the conversation, half amused by the conversation and half filled with guilt at the mere _sight_ of Gonta. "When Gonta learns more about outer space, then maybe he can answer Tsumugi's questions!"

Kokichi hesitatated as he watched the two, talking and moving and breathing and _alive._ Kokichi shut his eyes to the memory of Gonta's burning body, and focused on the fact that, somehow, they were all here and okay. This time, he could make sure no one died - especially Gonta. Opening his eyes again to see Gonta looking more confused and worried by the second from Tsumugi's questions, Kokichi plastered an all too familiar smile on his face and jogged up to the two.

"Heeeeey, what's going on?" Kokichi asked, pretending that he hadn't just watched them for nearly ten minutes. Regardless, Gonta looked immensely relieved to have Tsumugi's attention off of him.

"Oh, hello! Gonta was talking to Tsumugi here about space, since Gonta is Ultimate Astronaut! But Gonta not know much..." Gonta said, and Kokichi looked at his star-themed tie with a raised eyebrow. _Yeah, I can see him being the Ultimate Astronaut,_ he thought, and looked over Tsumugi. She looked similar to how she did last time, save for a brown coat instead of a blue one, and she was looking intently at him like he'd just volunteered to cosplay with her. _Even if she doesn't have that talent anymore, based on what's happening and what Tenko said._

Tsumugi stepped forward. "I'm Tsumugi Shirogane! It's nice to meet you, though I'm afraid I went and plain forgot my own talent."

Kokichi decided to pretend he didn't already know, and play to her good side. He was sure, now, that it wasn't a mistake that Rantaro forgot his talent. If it really was, Tsumugi would remember hers now. "Really? I don't remember mine either!"

Tsumugi looked shocked. Typical. "Really?! I didn't know that was possible! It sure is lucky that we were the only two to lose our memories! Or, ah, unlucky, in our specific case, I suppose."

_Lucky, she says, with no idea of the situation we're in now._

Kokichi blinked, not commenting. "So, Gonta, how'd you get your Ultimate talent?" he asked, turning to the... _new_ astronaut.

"Ah, um," Gonta said, cheering up as Tsumugi looked embarrassed, "When Gonta live in forest, Gonta had plenty of time to get fit and study stars! Now Gonta can study books, go to stars, and make his forest family proud!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Sounds cool," Kokichi finally said, surprised that Gonta didn't forcefully ask if he liked stars. "Welp, I'm gonna go, sooo..." He started edging away.

"Ah! Right! Goodbye, Kokichi!" Gonta said, and as Kokichi left Tsumugi followed his example with a cheer of, "When we meet again!"

...

Kokichi whispered an apology for killing his best friend.


	5. Hey, You Two Seem - I FORGOT YOU WERE A SERIAL KILLER OH SH*T

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank god Anxas reminded me Korekiyo kills people. Specifically, girls.
> 
> Alternate title: I Come Dangerously Close To Cursing

"C'mon, sidekick! Stop -"

"What the hell, you idiot! Leave me alone!"

"Hey! Don't call me an idiot! Get back here, sidekick!"

"Call me that again and I'll drop kick you out the window!"

"We're on the first floor!"

Kokichi still wasn't sure what had prompted the strange exchange between him and Kaito. One minute he'd been looking around for any differences from the last loop, the next he was talking to Kaito and being put extremely off guard by the whole "sidekick" shtick suddenly being thrust upon him. And what did Kokichi do when he was put off guard? He pissed someone off and ran.

Another angry shout, and Kokichi cursed. That had definitely been a great idea.

But as Kokichi ran and Kaito followed, the shorter boy couldn't help but think about how unnervingly similar the situation was to back when he stole the card key. Kokichi dashing through the halls, Kaito not pulling a one-horse open sleigh but still trying to keep up... It was also reminiscent of that time Kaito punched him... Ah, memories.

Ah, Korekiyo.

Korekiyo?!

Kokichi slammed into the taller boy, falling right over him and causing Korekiyo to knock over a side table that had been oddly placed in the hall. Kokichi heard a yell, most likely from either Kaito or Korekiyo, but he didn't care to stick around. He jumped up, fully intending to keep running -

And completely froze at the cool, rage-filled I-will-tear-out-your-nerves expression Korekiyo was giving him. God, he'd forgotten how terrifying those looks were.

...

Holy cheese, he hadn't been this scared since Maki had strangled him.

...

Was it... Safe for him to move, or...?

"Hey, sidekick! You alright?" Kaito yelled, and that break of Korekiyo's concentration allowed Kokichi unfreeze, swung his gaze around, and glare at Kaito Momota. Kaito flinched but didn't back down as he jogged up to the duo, Korekiyo still on the ground and Kokichi standing over him. "Did you bump into this guy?"

Kokichi gave him an "are you stupid" look, but the so-called "Luminary" didn't see it as he was helping Korekiyo up. _God, this version's even stupider than the last._

"You alright?" Kaito asked again, though this time it was aimed at Korekiyo. Korekiyo calmly brushed the dirt off his apron ( _I am **so** glad I know he's not the Ultimate Maid, cause that would be just weird._ Kokichi thought), and probably smiled serenely under the mask he was still wearing, even in this loop, but Kokichi couldn't tell.

"Yes, I am fine, thank you. Luckily," Korekiyo said as he lifted a small wooden box Kokichi hadn't seen before, "most of my art supplies are quite durable, and I do not believe any of them have broken."

"Good to hear!" Kaito said, and Kokichi rolled his eyes. What the hell were these people even doing? Granted, no one had been told of the killing game yet, but - "I'm Kaito Momota, Luminary of Mysteries and Ultimate Detective! This is my -"

_Jerk don't you do it_

"- sidekick, Kokichi Ouma! He -"

Kokichi wasted no more time before drop-kicking Kaito and running. He didn't remember where he learned to kick people like that, but that didn't really matter right now.

"Hey, tall boy! Let's talk later, okay!" he called over his shoulder as he left, Korekiyo still frozen and staring down at Kaito's pained form.

... He was probably lucky it didn't look like Korekiyo was the Ultimate Assassin.

—

He finally met Korekiyo properly when Kaito got bored of being drop-kicked.

The two of them were back in the dining hall, Korekiyo with some herbal tea and Kokichi not sitting properly on his chair with a cup of yogurt. It was... Uncomfortably peaceful, what with what would come next and start a series of murders.

...

God, his mind was morbid, wasn't it?

Korekiyo finally broke the silence. "So you say you're actually a girl? And you completely forgot your Ultimate talent?"

Kokichi nodded eagerly, grinning at Korekiyo and tapping the top of his yogurt cup in thought. "Yep! Don't make it out to sound like those two things are connected though, cause they aren't!" Kokichi ended his declaration with sticking out his tongue at Korekiyo.

"My apologies, I never meant to make it sound like that," Korekiyo assured him. "I am an artist, after all, and it would be a shame to make such beautiful art as yourself feel wrong."

Kokichi felt something off with what Korekiyo said, but as he turned it over in his brain he couldn't get anything off of the sentence besides Korekiyo's regular creepiness. _Well, that and the possibility he's hitting on me. Nishishi! This is the weirdest experience I've ever had! Besides being resurrected from the dead, of course!_

"Yes, I see all of humanity as beautiful art," Korekiyo continued, and it was hard to tell if he was offended by Kokichi's silence. "Such beautiful creations, surely made by whatever god is up there, kukuku! But on another note," he suddenly said, dialing down the creepiness by ten fold and closing his eyes, "I'd like to introduce you to my sister someday. I'm sure you'd both get along."

It clicked.

It clicked, and Kokichi stared at Korekiyo with blank horror. "Is that so~?" _ABORT MISSION!_ "Nishishi, maybe someday, then!"

"Oh?" Korekiyo said, opening an eye. But Kokichi had already bolted out of there like he had when - when - freak it, he didn't even run _this_ fast when Kaito had chased him! He hadn't run _this_ fast when he came dangerously close to pissing Maki off! He hadn't run _this_ fast when Gonta killed Miu! -

 _Pant, breath_... _pant, breath_... _pant, breath!_ ...

... Kokichi finally made it about as far away from Korekiyo as he could, outside the school and behind a tree. Kokichi took another deep breath, letting it out as he slumped down the tree's side.

...

God, he'd almost forgotten why Korekiyo had killed Tenko and Angie. If he tried to be friends with Korekiyo, or even stayed too long in the same room as him...

...

...

...

... He might as well look around outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dining hall was deserted, and the only indicator Kokichi had ever been there was the discarded yogurt cup.
> 
> Korekiyo: "... What the hell."


	6. Nicknames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi cries, there are no lies, and Rantaro gives him a nickname.

Kokichi calmed down when he got to the courtyard, which was as normal and still as ever. He plopped down on a bench, taking stock of the current relationships he had with everyone, as well as who he had to meet next.

Kiibo: probably still confused... And angry. Best to avoid him for now.

Tenko: on good terms. Could be close friends? Unlikely to be the mastermind, based on how she died last time...

Himiko: also on good terms. Still sticking with Tenko; could she be the mastermind? Kokichi didn't see it as likely, but he wasn't one to cross off options preemptively. He'd have to keep an eye on her.

Angie: god is still suspicious but on good terms.

Kaede: almost definitely not the mastermind. Could have swapped out for someone or something just before getting executed, but honestly that was pretty unlikely. On okay-ish terms. Make sure she doesn't murder again.

Shuichi: okay terms? Yet to figure out what that look in his eye was. Could be the mastermind.

Gonta: okay terms. Would be okay with being friends with him again, but...

Tsumugi: ??? Good terms??

Kaito: idiot.

Korekiyo: _no._

Who did he have left? Kokichi tapped his cheek, trying to think. Ryoma, Rantaro, Kirumi, Miu... And _her._

Kokichi touched his neck, where his scarf kept the secret of his scars hidden. That dirty killer, stirring up the killing game when he'd tried so hard to end it... Strangling him not once, but twice... Completely ignoring his head wound with Shuichi... _Probably happy I was bleeding out, dissapointed she didn't get to kill me, wanted me to die -_

Kokichi suddenly found himself crying, and he quickly shut his eyes to calm himself down, focusing on the grass just under his feet and the wooden bench he was sitting on. He wasn't in the hangar, he wasn't being strangled, he was _fine._

... Even if his memories said otherwise.

Kokichi took a breath and forced his eyes open. _Look, wood and grass. Not stone, not metal, not blood. You're okay. Stop crying, or someone will ask._

It took a while, but Kokichi's tears slowed, and he immediately felt stupid for crying when he wasn't even in any danger. Tiredly he wiped the last of his tears, and tried to play it off to himself like he was just practicing his fake tears. Smile, forget the pain, and remember to press the reset button on your feelings! _"And you'll be feeling better in no time!"_

Kokichi stood up and glanced around to make sure no one had seen him while he was vulnerable. If he accidentally broke down again, he sure as heck wasn't going to let anyone see it.

 _Welp,_ Kokichi thought once he was satisfied nobody had spotted him, _I guess it's time to go seek out the murder girl! Better to get it over with sooner rather than later!_

Kokichi grinned and walked off, pointedly ignoring the tears still drying on his cheeks.

—

Kokichi found Maki walking around with Rantaro.

Maki, ever the stone-face, wore a long tan petticoat that must have been hot to wear, but she gave no indication of it being so. With a single long pigtail and large, pink bow, Kokichi had no idea what her talent was - and what she was thinking. Kokichi was decently far away from the pair, so he couldn't be sure, but he thought she seemed almost annoyed by Rantaro talking to her.

Rantaro, on the other hand, had a corduroy vest and pants, and an indigo shirt. A light blue gear pattern, wires in his pockets, and the goggles upon his head clearly showed what Ultimate talent he had, and Kokichi reflected on the fact that he'd have to go to Rantaro if he wanted the same tools he had last time. Bothersome, but... Kokichi sighed.

But he came here for a reason, and right now he had to focus on that. He could calculate requests and questions later, when he had his whiteboard set up. Kokichi nonchalantly strolled towards the pair.

"Hey, hey, hey! Who are you guys, huh? Huh?" 

Rantaro and Maki looked up at his call, Rantaro with a smile and Maki with a suspicious look. Kokichi ignored it, putting his hands behind his head and trying to look as nonthreatening as possible, which was... Surprisingly, making him uneasy. Kokichi tried to ignore that, too.

"Hey there. You wake up in this strange place too?" Rantaro asked, and Kokichi nearly rolled his eyes in amusement.

"No, I'm your kidnapper and thought I'd check how you were doing," he said sarcastically, but he made sure to smile so they wouldn't get mad at him, unlike when he was purposefully trying to piss people off. "But aaanyway - jeez I'm saying that a lot, you people need to learn to get conversations back on track on your own - who're you guys?"

Rantaro opened his mouth to explain, but Maki beat him to it. "Why don't you explain that first?"

"Ooh, chilly!" Kokichi said, turning to look her in the eye with an analytical gleam. "Well, if you muuust know, I'm Kokichi Ouma! I don't remember my talent, but I'm good at dropkicking! Nishishi, so don't piss me off!"

Rantaro chuckled silently as Maki glared at him. Kokichi grinned right back. _I know you, killer girl, even if you're probably not a killer this time. I won't cross the line if there aren't people to intervene._ "So what about you guys?"

"Well," Rantaro said, subtly cutting in between Maki's glare and Kokichi, _Nice to know he's still smart,_ "I'm Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Inventor. Come to me if you ever need something made."

Kokichi looked him over again, taking in this time how calculated Rantaro's movements were. He appeared at ease, but Kokichi knew he was smarter than he let on, and with that Inventor talent he could be a viable asset. Kokichi wouldn't take any risks like he had with Gonta this time, oh no, but he'd definitely take Rantaro up on that offer. It'd be nice to have an underling that didn't need instructions spoon-fed to him. "Okie dokie, Ranta-ventor! And you?" Kokichi asked, swiftly turning to Maki as Rantaro processed the nickname and laughed.

Maki let up on her glare a little. "Maki Harukawa, Ultimate Anthropologist," she sighed, playing with her ponytail with one hand. How odd, it was almost like she'd already gone through that whole "friendly work outs" thing with Kaito. "And you shouldn't say things like that, Rantaro. You make it sound like we won't get out of here."

"Didn't I tell you? The cage surrounds the entire building. I don't think I can find a weak point or build something to magically get us out," Rantaro stated, and by the tone of his voice it sounded like this was an argument the two had been having for quite some time. Kokichi glanced between the two innocently, waiting to see if they would fight before speaking up.

"You know, the school's open," Kokichi commented, and _wow_ did that get their attention fast. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the front doors and added, "That's where I came from. There's lots more people in there!"

Kokichi watched as Maki and Rantaro exchanged a glance, probably weighing their options. Finally Rantaro shook his head slightly and turned back to Kokichi, rustling his hair and making him freeze. "Thanks, then, Kich. We'll be sure to check it out."

Maki and Rantaro left without another word, Kokichi still standing there in shock. No one had touched his hair like that since...

Kokichi turned around to look at the two, already nearing the front doors. Slowly raising a hand to touch his messy hair, Kokichi blinked in astonishment.

 _... You really **are** full of surprises, aren't you, Ranta-ventor?_ Kokichi thought to himself, and when the other two had finally disappeared through the great oak doors he made his way towards the dormitories - and his room - in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're confused, Ranta-ventor is a play on the word Rantaro (Rantaro's name) and inventor (Rantaro's talent). And Kich is just Kokichi shortened into a really cute nickname. That's all!


	7. #&>3 and &/3x

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirumi refuses to be interrupted, and I (the author) introduce two random characters that totally aren't important to the story at all. Yep, definitely not.

Kirumi was, surprisingly, still the one in the dormitories. Another surprise was that she was playing tennis off the dormitory wall.

 _Whack!_ Kirumi was, admittedly, very good at tennis, but Kokichi knew that was just because of the talent swap. _Whack! Whack!_ Well, _he_ sure as heck wasn't the Ultimate Tennis Pro. _Whack!_

"Heeeey!" he called, and Kirumi stopped in her game long enough to glance over her shoulder at him and give him a nod. Immediently going back to her game, Kirumi didn't seem one for conversation.

Well, too bad, because Kokichi sure as heck was.

"Hey! You're not gonna say hi or anything?" _Whack!_ "Hm, guess that's a no, huh?" _Whack!_ "Fine, then! But anyway, I'm guessing you're the Ultimate Tennis Pro?" _Whack!_ "I'll take that as a yes."

After a moment or so, Kirumi finally caught the ball instead of hitting it, turning back to Kokichi and picking up her gym bag. With her also in blue workout clothes and tennis shoes instead of high heels, Kirumi was almost as different from her original look as Himiko. Nothing could change the oddity of that cloche, though. "So -"

Kirumi cut in. "Greetings, and my apologies for not greeting you before. However, when I practice I prefer to finish the activity I am on rather than allow myself to be interrupted. You are right, however, in saying I am the Ultimate Tennis Pro." Holding out a hand, she finished her introduction by saying, "The name is Kirumi Tojo. And you are?"

Kokichi blinked at the offered hand for a minute - thinking of how she gripped onto a thorny vine for dear life with that same hand, once - before grinning and shaking her hand enthusiastically. "Wow, that's so cool! I'm Kokichi Ouma! I really like seeing your matches!"

_Take the bluff, take the bluff..._

Kirumi blushed lightly and pulled away from his hand. "Thank you, it is my honor to... _serve_ all people with the skills I have."

"..." Kokichi stared at her in shock.

"... Kokichi?"

"... Was that a _f*cking_ pun?!" Kokichi finally blurted out, and suddenly he was laughing to himself for a full three minutes as Kirumi chuckled alongside him, relaxed now that she knew he hadn't been hurt in anyway.

Kokichi, however, was laughing more out of hysteria than the pun actually being funny. He meets Kirumi after she _murdered someone_ and _died,_ and of the first things she happens to say to him, one of them is a _f*cking pun?!_

Kokichi's laughter finally died down after he bit his cheek and forced himself to stop so as to not freak Kirumi out. "Woah, that was a good one! I haven't heard such a good pun in -" Kokichi felt a spark of fear when he realized he _didn't_ actually know. Did the time you spent in alternate timelines count as part of your age, or past? "... In a long time," he finally settled for.

Kirumi gave a nod, and seeing no reason to stick around when he already knew the dorms's layout, Kokichi bid her goodbye and skipped out of the building. Only two people left!

...

Oh. The prisoner and the almost-killer. Fun.

Kokichi sighed quietly, determinedly kept up his grin, and left to investigate on the second floor of the Academy.

—

"#&>3, are you sure this is ethical? Or safe?"

"Oh, come on, &/3x. It's just a 6&+3!"

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I am."

"... And +¥ s09?"

"Couldn't get to 'em. Not much, anyways."

"..."

"&/3x?"

"Fine. I'll trust you."

"Of course you will!"

"Just don't... Nevermind. I'm... I'm leaving"

"See you later!"

"... Bye, #&>3."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally made up my own code for this y'all better be proud


	8. FUCK YOU BEE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not the bees!
> 
> Also a short chapter cause those happen sometimes.

Kokichi made it to the second level without too much difficulty, considering he nearly ran into Kiibo and Kaito a couple times. He'd rather not see the person he yelled at or the person he drop-kicked just yet, if that was alright with the universe. Or, you know, Korekiyo, aka the person he was honestly kinda terrified by.

Unfortunately, it seems the universe just _had_ to pair him up with _someone._

"Hey, sidekick! Didn't expect you to be up here after you ran off!" A voice from behind him said, and Kokichi sighed as he resigned himself to having the space-mystery idiot stick around. "Hey, wait up!"

Kokichi stopped and turned around, seeing behind him a jogging Kaito and confused Miu. Miu wore ripped skinny jeans and a short camo top you might see in some sh*tty jungle adventure movie; Kokichi raised an eyebrow in both interest and annoyance. At least that would be one more person crossed off his list...

"Hey! Gremlin!" Miu yelled, and Kokichi rolled his eyes as she passed a startled Kaito, stomping up to him. "Are you the guy who yelled at Kiibs?"

"Girl, and who?" Kokichi feigned ignorance, examining his nails and pretending to be as disinterested as possible. Miu leaned back in confusion.

"You, a girl? Please, don't make me laugh." Now it was Kokichi's turn to glare, and as he did so Kaito came up to dissolve the tension.

By accidentally tripping over Ryoma.

"Woah!" "Gh -" Two noises of surprise and pain came from the two, and Kokichi snickered at the sight. Kaito was lying on the ground with Ryoma under his legs; the so-called "Luminary" had a hilarious look of confusion on his face and Ryoma was as blank as ever. Pff, but he should cut in before Miu made a perverted comment.

"Jeez, Kaito, I know I'm hot but you don't need to -" Kokichi gave the fallen detective finger guns "- _fall_ for me."

"What?! No! I wouldn't -" Kaito's denial was cut short by Ryoma - who had apparently gotten fed up with waiting - _throwing_ the Luminary off of him and quite a few feet away from the small group. Kokichi stared.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"... Don't worry, I made sure not to kill him," Ryoma finally said, and Miu started screaming, mostly yelling variations of "WHAT THE FUCK?!" and "WHAT THE HELL?!"

...

"You know what, screw this, I'm gonna go check on him," Kokichi finally said, shooting Ryoma finger guns and putting on a mask of mild amusement. As he left he swore he could hear Ryoma snort, chuckling, and Miu's yelling fell into babbling something about "how the hell could a gremlin like yourself," but Kaito landed quite a ways away down the hall, so eventually Kokichi ended up out of earshot of the two.

Kaito landed face first, jacket rumpled and one slipper somewhere else down the hall. Kokichi knelt in front of the him, giving the quite-possibly-unconcious Kaito a quizzical gawk. He gave Kaito's still oddly styled hair a poke and thought, _Is that really all it takes to knock him out? Jeez, this Kaito needs to take some workout lessons from the old Kaito! Nishi -_

A bee flew past him, and Kokichi screamed loudly enough to be heard from the other side of the Academy.

"AAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIII!!" Kokichi yelled, disregarding the jerking-awake Kaito and yells about his volume from Miu as he booked it down the hallway. F*ck Kaito, f*ck Miu, f*ck Ryoma, f*ck whoever released that bee, and most of all -

"FUCK YOU BEE! FUCK YOU TO HELL!"

...

There sure was a lot of yelling going on today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi is incredibly scared of bugs confirmed.
> 
> No but seriously that boy probably has the worst fear of bugs ever, between the Bug Meet n Greet disaster and Gonta's execution. Suffice to say, he won't get along with Miu in this loop very well...


	9. Shut Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi has some very bad memories related to laughing.

Kokichi got a piggyback from Tenko after his scare, which was nice, but what was even better was pulling a giant whiteboard back to his room with help this time.

"Wo-oah! Kokichi's really strong!" Tenko said as she carried her half towards the dorms, with Himiko lagging behind.. Kokichi, as he was the one who ended up having to walk backwards, glanced where he was going before talking.

"Thanks!" he squeaked, surprised to find that Tenko was right - he did find carrying the whiteboard extremely easy. But at his squeak, Tenko gushed about "how cute" he was, and Kokichi cleared his throat in what was definitely, decidedly, not embarrassment.

Himiko gave him a half-sympathetic look. Kokichi refused to look at her.

Together the two of them hefted the board through the doors and up the steps to his room. As they did, Kokichi could make out the obvious worry on Tenko's face. Well, of course she would be worried. Not long after Kokichi ran into Tenko and Himiko again, that damn fucking bear called them all into the gymnasium - again, technically. That was, of course, assuming Kokichi wasn't just crazy about the time loop. Anyhoo.

Kokichi had mostly tuned Monokuma and the Mono-idiots out when they started explaining the situation - why listen to a game's rules if you already knew them? He did fondly remember Kiibo yelling, "You forgot your entire talent, so you have no right to chide me for forgetting you!" though. It was actually kind of -

Kokichi's thoughts were cut off as he backed into the door of his own dorm room and dropped the whiteboard.

Himiko snickered while Tenko apologized profusely and clumsily went to set down her half of the board. "Tenko is sorry! Tenko should have been more careful and told Kokichi about the door, Tenko should have said something, Tenko -"

Kokichi wasn't a fan of physical contact, but he knew what he had to do to calm down Tenko. Grabbing Tenko's hands in his own and staring Tenko in the face, Kokichi spoke, calmly and clearly.

"Tenko, it's not your fault. I just happened to back into the door. Bad things and accidents happen sometimes, you know? So don't beat yourself up over it!"

"I..." Tenko was at a loss for what to say. Kokichi realized what he just said and did, and quickly let go of Tenko's hands.

_What - no, just think! What's a classic Kokichi quote you can say to dissolve the tension? I know!_

Kokichi snorted and put his hands behind his back. "Yep! Don't beat yourself up over it, or I'll drop kick you, okaaaay? I'm oddly good at that, don't you know? Hey, maybe I'm the Ultimate Drop Kicker!"

Tenko giggled, then laughed, and finally was bending over laughing as Kokichi kept cracking joke after joke. Himiko glared in the background, but Kokichi ignored it for the sake of a captive audience. No one would have laughed at his jokes like this before, let alone tolerated him! As Tenko gasped for breath around her laughter and Kokichi moved from regular jokes to puns, he ecstatically thought in his happiness-induced high that maybe he could trust maybe one person here.

I mean, when was even the last time he laug -

Tenko slowly stopped laughing, still giggling and panting as Himiko noticed Kokichi's suddenly blank face and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Kokichi, in actuality, had no idea what was going through her head, but he thought he could understand the gist of it as his memories took his consiousness from him.

_Murderer._

_Freak._

_Liar._

~~"Haha... Ha - Ko-Kokichi?"~~

Something being sliced apart, something being stabbed, _something burning -_

~~"Kokichi? Kokichi?! Kokichi!~~

_HIS OWN MISERABLE LAUGHTER, STAINING THE COURTROOM AND MAKING EVERYONE HATE HIM EVEN MORE, BECAUSE IF HE COULD LAUGH IT OFF, IF HE COULD PRESS THE RESET BUTTON ON HIS FEELINGS -_

~~_"KOKICHI PLEASE I SWEAR TO GOD!_ ~~

SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP

_"YOU'LL ALWAYS BE ALONE!"_

_SHUT -_

_..._

_..._

_..._

Oh. His face was wet. 

Kokichi blinked back into control, dimly aware that he was really... just, _tired._ Tenko was hugging him? And that there was... Himiko looking scared and confused. Kokichi shut his eyes as he shuddered with a deep breath. 

Something wet was falling on him. Something wet was falling from his eyes. 

Something sounded like footsteps. 

Kokichi covered his ears against it all, and despairingly wished he was back in the locker again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I specifically saved posting this until a few days passed cause I won't be able to write/post much for a while! My brother's birthday and the holiday Mabon are coming up, meaning I'll be busy with those for a while. Sorry about that! I hope you enjoyed this chapter anyway!


	10. Late Night Ponderings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternate title: the author finally gets around to writing the part that should've been done a few chapters ago.

Kokichi breathed in. And out. And opened his closed eyes to see a darkened room and a white board right in front of him, right where he'd left it when he'd calmed down and locked himself away and alone in his room. It was time to get to work.

Before, he'd broken down. The memories had overwhelmed him and caused everyone to come running. But Kokichi neither had time for nor need their pity. And as he sure as heck didn't deserve it either, Kokichi left everyone alone, set up his white board and pictures just the way they'd been at the start of the last game, and slept until the night time announcement - if he wanted a time where he could plan, investigate, and explore, then the night was his time to act.

Kokichi tapped the marker he currently held against his cheek. Getting the pictures currently on his whiteboard had meant another warehouse trip, which meant giving people another chance to act all concerned and worried about him. But on the other hand, it'd also given him another chance to investigate the others, so...

Kokichi uncapped his marker and drew a red line between Rantaro and Maki, and a question mark above the connection.

What was with those two? They were acting _very_ buddy-buddy when he and they first met... Which was odd, considering how little he could guess about their current backstories based on their interactions and stories from the last loop. Were they friends? More? Or something... Different?

_Partners in crime?_

Kokichi recapped his red marker and reached for the blue one.

Color coding the notes he made had been Tenko's idea, once she pressured him enough with unrelenting questions to get him to spill a tiny detail - specifically, the one about what the whiteboard was for. Though he would never spill the _meaning_ of all his notes, he told Tenko he was _taking_ notes, at least, and her immediate reaction was to supply a possibly helpful suggestion. Kokichi peered over her picture with suspicion before writing a small, cramped note in blue.

_Ally?_

...

"Hm..."

Kokichi put down his blue marker and picked up green.

Green. Green to link previous murders, green to mark the last murder weapons used and the motive for doing so. Kokichi marked Rantaro, Kaede, Ryoma, Kirumi, Angie, Tenko, Korekiyo, Miu, Gonta...

And himself.

How unfortunate. He still had no idea what happened after he died.

Kokichi recapped the green marker as he pondered. Had Kaito followed his plan? When had the time loop even occurred? Maybe, if it happened right after Kokichi died, Kaito didn't even get to the trial grounds with the script he wrote. _How ironic, the best thing I did was die, and that might not have even meant anything..._

...

Kokichi moved onto Kaito.

Kaito was an odd one, that was for sure. That idiot, a detective? How did he ever get anywhere with that trusting shtick of his? Kokichi tapped his cheek with the marker as he slowly went over what he already knew about the other boy.

_Kaito Momota. Ultimate Detective._

\- ----- ---

_Calls himself the "Luminary of Unsolved Mysteries." Former Ultimate Astronaut._

**\- t---t -i-**

_Tendency to trust others. Wants to make me his sidekick._

**\- t-u-t -im**

_If he wasn't such an idiot... No, maybe not..._

**I t-u-t him**

_Almost seems like he could be a good friend..._

**I trust him.**

"What?!" Kokichi shouted, then slapped a hand over his mouth to stifle the noise. He couldn't have anyone waking up - why did he trust that idiot - _he killed me last loop, for God's sake!_

.

.

.

_And I trusted him enough to give him my plan, didn't I?_

Kokichi sighed and rested his head against his whiteboard. Fine, he could accept he trusted the "new" detective an inch. But never with his life. No, not even with anyone else's life. That idiot was sure to mess things up sooner or later.

Kokichi marked Kaito's portrait with a "trustworthy?" in an unsatisfactory blue scrawl.

... Anyway.

Kokichi wrote more notes: ones in pink to show their old talents, and ones in black to show their new ones. A note or two in brown to show who _hadn't_ died yet - those Kokichi was most suspicious of being the mastermind. He still had to figure that out...

But on the other hand, there was, thankfully, something Kokichi could calculate right now.

Kokichi lowered his hand from the whiteboard, thinking about the question that had been plaguing his mind for a long while. If Kiibo had his old talent, Angie had Kiibo's old talent, Korekiyo had Angie's old talent...

Kokichi stayed that way, standing in his dim dorm room until he calculated exactly what the outcome was -

And dropped his marker in horror.

Kokichi stared down at his whiteboard. He was utterly, completely, doomed. Why? Unless, for some miraculous, god-forsaken reason he messed up his calculations, Kokichi was the Ultimate Child Caregiver - and the Ultimate Assassin, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~ Guess who's back?
> 
> ~ Back again?
> 
> Nishishi, it's great to be back from my short hiatus! Granted, the hiatus was about as long as I sometimes take to write chapters, but anyhoo. It's great to finally upload another chapter, haha!
> 
> This chapter is a lot longer and better than my past few have been, and honestly that's because I've had much longer to edit it with. I've come to the realization I don't edit my work as much as I should, and it really leads to a lot of problems down the line - namely, when it turns into writing something I don't like anymore.
> 
> At any rate, I'm glad to see y'all again! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I also hope you had a super fantastic Mabon (to all those who celebrate it)! Have a great day!
> 
> +++
> 
> Edit: if anyone's worried about this for being possibly abandoned, please don't be! I just had to go on an unnanounced hiatus because of school. I'll update eventually!! It just might take a while. Okay, bye!


	11. No Harems Allowed in the Dining Hall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi has a bad first breakfast with everyone. Luckily, his mood improves as the conversation begins, but the appearance of what is essentially a harem has him baffled. At one point, the Monokubs appear, and they do absolutely nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry for the long wait between updates and I hope this at least partly makes up for it.

Despite the birds that were attacking Kaito for whatever reason and Himiko's odd attitude towards him, Kokichi could almost pretend that the other three people currently in the dining hall were normal highschoolers who didn't have weird and/or horrifying things happen to them all the time.

_Crash! Bang!_

... Well, semi-normal.

"I said I'm sorry!" Kaito yelled as he ran out of the kitchen to dodge a diving paper bird that Tenko kept ordering to attack him. The other paper birds kept chase, pecking at his hair, face and back as Kaito and Tenko circled around the dining room table, one fearful and the other angry.

"You degenerate male, thinking an apology will make up for you touching Himiko and Kokichi!" Tenko spat back, screeching even louder than Kaito, and Kokichi was reminded of just how deep Tenko's hatred of men ran. All Kaito had to do was clap Kokichi and Himiko on the back as he greeted them, and suddenly he was getting attacked by origami owls or whatever they were.

The duo dashed by the end where Kokichi and Himiko sat again, and Kokichi wondered briefly if he should step in before clenching his fists and forcing himself not to move or stand up.

He was an assassin now. He didn't know how strong he was. _He didn't know what it would take before he snapped and hurt someone, like Maki did._

The mention of someone getting hurt, however, reminded Kokichi of his other dilemma - besides the time loop and killing game, of course. _What would Tenko say if she found out Kokichi was a guy?_ Sure, there was the oddly okay-ish feeling he got when Tenko referred to him as a girl earlier, but if things were to go badly when Tenko found out... Hoo boy, Kokichi could easily find himself on the receiving end of those bir -

Not one, but two loud clatters resonated from the kitchen this time, and Kokichi found himself toppling over his chair as he shot up and slammed his hands on the table.

"WILL YOU TWO STOP ACTING LIKE LITTLE CHILDREN?! FOR GOD'S SAKE, TENKO, IT WAS JUST A PAT ON THE BACK!" Kokichi startled Himiko into falling over with his yell, registering the action and glaring harder than he ever had at Kaito and Tenko, who had frozen in shock and fear. "I'LL BE THE FIRST TO ADMIT THERE IS A LINE WHEN IT COMES TO TOUCH, BUT KAITO DIDN'T CROSS IT, SO WILL YOU TWO STOP FIGHTING FOR MAYBE TWO SECONDS?! I SWEAR -"

Kokichi pushed himself away from the table, meaning to fall back in his chair, and fell to floor. "FRICK!"

...

_I LITERALLY JUST SAID I DIDN'T WANT THIS TO HAPPEN OH MY FRICKIN GOD._

“Kokichi!” Tenko ran back into the room, spotting Himiko as she did so. “Oh gosh, are two okay? Tenko is so, so sorry! Tenko will not fight with degenerate males like that again!”

Tenko nearly dove to help Himiko up, and as she did Himiko gave Kokichi a smug look - well, smug for Himiko, at least. Kaito said something about his yell, and Kokichi wiped away the tears in his eyes; whether they were from pain or humiliation was something beyond him.

Kaito offered him a hand to stand up, and Kokichi forced himself to take it even as he was stuffing his other fist into his jacket pockets and gingerly standing up with all effort to hide his trembling.

He _just_ said he didn't want to hurt anyone.

And not two seconds later, he was yelling his brains out at Kaito and Tenko, enough to seriously scare them.

Haha, he was screwed - and a terrible person to boot.

+++

Kokichi wanted to leave the dining hall after that, but before he knew it Kiibo and Kaede had joined them, and it would make him an even worse person to just leave now - even if he was starting to hold a "sort-of" grudge against Kiibo. Plus, there was the risk of looking suspicious when everyone else turned up, like how Kokichi knew they would.

So for now, Kokichi sat next to Kaito and threw up his hood. At least if Kokichi snapped harder this time and physically hurt someone, Kaito would be close enough to grab him.

Then again, did Kaito work out as a detective? Did detectives work out?

 _Oh, for frick's sake,_ Kokichi thought to himself, eyes darting to watch the others talk as he played with his pendant again. _I have to calm down. I can put on my liar's mask again, so just **calm** yourself._

"Hey, sidekick!" Kaito said out of the blue, and Kokichi turned to him in surprise. "That was some shouting you did earlier!"

Kokichi gave a grunt in reply, giving a non-committal shrug and stabbing at the scrambled eggs he got soon after the event with his fork.

"Where'd you even learn to shout like that?" Kaito asked, and without thinking about the consequences Kokichi blurted out a lie connected to one of his talents.

"Kids can be rowdy sometimes. Sometimes you have to shout if you're in a large room." Kokichi mentally kicked himself.

Kaito looked surprised, but before he got much further than "Oh, you took care of -", a large portion of the other students had arrived, bringing with them their chatter and "good morning"s. Kokichi sighed in relief, taking the opportunity to sit in the background and watch his classmates as they talked.  
   
"Soooo, what's our first order of business, cap'n?" Angue asked after the initial outbreaks of discussion had died down. At the question, Kokichi blinked, and forced himself to hold his tongue. He didn't have the Ultimate Supreme Leader title to justify his speaking up, nor any standing with this group besides "girl-who-had-a-mental-breakdown."

Hm. He should probably fix that soon.

There was a brief moment where Kaede and Kiibo both started to speak, but after some half-empty laughter Kaede went ahead.

"Alright, does anyone have any clues they found? Anything at all would be helpful," Kaede said, and Kaito nodded along. The dining hall was filled with murmurs, and Kokichi forced down a smirk at just how little they knew compared to him.

Then again... He had to deal with this being even _more_ boring than last time, on top of the whole "turns-out-I'm-a-murderer-haha-this-is-fiiiine" thing.

Yep, just great. Oh shit, the others were talking again.

"Well, we could always give the Road of Despair another go?" Tenko suggested mildly, tapping her fingers together. "I mean, it didn't work out last time, but Tenko believes the girls can do it this time!"

Somewhere down the table there was a muttering about the boys surviving too, but neither Kiibo nor Kaede, the self proclaimed leaders, were listening.

"I don't know..." Kiibo began. "Monokuma must know that we've tried going through it by now; he seems to know everything. He could have made it more dangerous."

The mutterings of the other students were disappointed, but in agreement. Next to Kokichi, Kaito swore something under his breath, but Kokichi didn't care to catch what it was.

"Uh... Alright!" Kaede said, and Kokichi recognized the look in her eyes as someone who was trying to come up with a new plan as fast as possible. "Well, uh, maybe we should just look around some more?"

This times, the mutterings of everyone in the room were solely of agreement, and Kokichi decided to take this time to patch up something someone might find suspicious later.

"What's the Road of Despair?" he asked, and everyone's heads turned toward him in surprise, as if he had become non-existent the second he had recovered from his bout of yelling earlier - or, well, bout of crying yesterday, for most of the others. "I mean, based on the _name_ it doesn't sound particularly pleasant, but I'm willing to bet there's a story here, so lay it on me while I'm not bored." Kokichi leaned forward and rested his head on his hand.

Kokichi spotted Rantaro hiding a snort at his joke, and Gonta perked up on the far side of the table. "Oh! Gonta can -"

"RISE AND SHINE, URSINE!" cut him off. Shuichi, closest to the Monokubs, yelped, but aside from that everyone's reactions were made mostly of mild surprise and disgust. Someone audibly groaned - probably Miu - and a spoon went flying across the table.

Kokichi ducked as the spoon flew over his head, and took no effort to hide his grin as it smacked Kaito in the face.

"Gooood morning, ya bastards!" Red McNinja greeted them, hands raised high in excitement. "Father told us to come and give a very special motive for y'all!"

"Monotaro, you can't just yell it out like that..." Tiger McMonocles said, but Kiibo interrupted before Monotaro could reply.

"Excuse me, but I believe Gonta was about to say something."

Gonta nodded eagerly, and Kokichi twitched. "Gonta was about to offer to tell Kokichi what happened during Road of Despair!"

"Would not I be best suited for that, Gonta? My apologies, but I fear you may confuse her." Kirumi offered, and after a moment Kokichi realized she was talking about him.

"Yeah! Kirumi can tell people stuff way better than any degenerate male!" Ah, and there goes Tenko, and suddenly the entire table was in an argument, Monokubs ignored and Kokichi lost as to how this came about. Somewhere, over the rainbow, Monokuma appeared as well, but unfortunately it only added to the chaos as Kokichi looked around in absolute astonishment.

At one point, Kokichi met Kaede's eye. "You've got a harem now," she giggled, and Kokichi slammed his head down onto the table.

Would he _ever_ catch a break with this group?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof ouch I made Kokichi's mental health worse.
> 
> Hope you like the angsty, internal thoughts of Kokichi, cause you're gonna see them for a while yet.
> 
> Have a great day!


	12. Time In A Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kokichi reads a book and Rantaro is also there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am. Very bad at filler chapters. I am so sorry.

In the end, it took Monokuma's threats, two iron pans, and about an hour's time for everyone to stop fighting. Kokichi's head was still reeling by the time it stopped, but he managed to slip away just after Monokuma's time limit announcement, and before anyone started to pester him again. Though he didn't show it, Kokichi would prefer not to be near anyone right now - especially the loud people who wouldn't leave him alone, like Kaito or Tenko.

So in the end, Kokichi ended up reading in the library, surrounded by dust, a weird globe, and cobwebs so thick they made Kokichi thankful he already knew no spiders were in here. At some point while he was browsing he wondered if things like the lack of bugs stayed the same after time loops, but Kokichi tried not to listen to that little fear, and instead grabbed a book on impulse.

It was a nice book, one about two lover girls trapped in an apocalyptic city, and Kokichi found himself relating to one of the main characters even as he found himself wishing a _certain other character_ would die a horrible, horrible death.

Wait. Did it make him a bad person for hoping the character would die? Normally, Kokichi wouldn't think so, but as he was a filthy murderer now, he couldn't really tell.

Maybe it was for the best that Rantaro entered at that time. Kokichi was starting to stress out again.

"Oh, hey, Kokichi," Rantaro said, and Kokichi gave a little acknowledging wave as he finished the chapter, having turned back to his page as soon as he saw it was Rantaro who opened the door. "Is this where you've been hiding out? Sorry if we scared you earlier, by the way."

Kokichi waited for a moment before giving a big shrug and tossing his book to his side. He could use this opportunity and hopefully word would get around to Kaito that he remembered his talent. "Eh, I've seen way, way worse and weirder fights between kids I used to babysit."

Kokichi thought about adding his talent into the mix, but as that might be a bit of a weird thing to just blurt out, he opted to instead stretch as he watched Rantaro sit next to him.

Rantaro raised an eyebrow, looking at Kokichi skeptically as Kokichi examined his nails. "Between -"

"Kids. I remembered my talent, you know, though it's not as impressive as some others'. I'm the Ultimate Child Caregiver!"

"... Ah, I see," Rantaro said, and the analytical look on his face slipped back into that relaxed gaze that made up forty percent of all his expressions. Kokichi silently congratulated himself for deflecting, focusing again when Rantaro started speaking.

"I guess that makes sense. Well, it's nice that you remembered your talent. When did you remember?"

"This morning," Kokichi responded, the lie coming out calmer than how he felt. "I guess I just needed to de-stress a little, though I'm not sure how I managed to do that in a situation like this."

Rantaro gave a chuckle, but it was replaced by a scowl after just a second, and Kokichi wanted to stab himself for ruining the already fragile mood. He rushed to correct it. "Heyy, anyway, what's that whole 'Road of Despair' Tenko mentioned earlier? All I heard about that thing was the nickname 'Death Death Street to Ultra Death,' and Gonta isn't around to explain whatever the heck that means."

_That should - uh oh. Ohhh no. What is wrong. Why is Rantaro still looking at me like that. Oh no oh no do I need to abort again. I would prefer not to abort again. For god's sake what could he possibly need now?!_

"Kokichi," Rantaro said, and he had a strange look on his face Kokichi couldn't analyze. Kokichi swallowed. "What's wrong?"

"Hm? Nothing! Well, besides the killing game. I'm all good except for that."

 _"Kokichi."_ Rantaro's graveness set off an alarm bell in Kokichi's head, and he edged away from Rantaro. He needed to deflect, and _soon._

"Are you okay?" Rantaro asked, and he looked so genuinely pained and concerned Kokichi for a moment Kokichi just stared at him. How the hell had Rantaro noticed he wasn't okay?!

_... If he already knows you're upset, maybe you can just tell -_

_No,_ that would end terribly. Plus, the pity Rantaro was showing was probably underserved. Kokichi swallowed back his instincts and summoned up a half-truth.

"... Wow."

Rantaro blinked, leaning back from when he edged after Kokichi, shocked and confused. "Huh?"

Kokichi relaxed and gave a bittersweet smile, playing his lie like a reminiscent mentorish uncle. "You really are like a brother! I was right."

"Wait, wait. Hold up. How'd you tell I was a brother?" Rantaro asked, and Kokichi moved back to his original spot while rolling his eyes. He'd have to drag this emotional moment for a little while longer, but it was better than telling the truth. So Kokichi gave Rantaro a condescending pat on the shoulder as Rantaro continued looking baffled.

"You, good sir, are the combined soul of alllll the big brother types we'd get back at the - the neighborhood I grew up in. I saw a lot of your type, the pseudo-parent type that would perfectly fit the role of a big sibling in a dramatic, heart-wrenching anime that isn't nearly as good as people make it out to be. That said..."

Kokichi put his hands behind his head, ignoring the odd feeling in his chest and instead wondering if he could pull this off and "lead" Rantaro in the right direction, even though he wasn't the Ultimate Supreme Leader anymore. "Well, your instincts are off. I'm fine, just stressed. Seriously, look after yourself, okay? You don't need to look after me - I've already got Kaito and Tenko doing that for me!"

By the time he finished, Rantaro had gained a look of understanding in his eyes, and snorted when Kokichi finished his spiel. Kokichi grinned back at him, but he could feel his energy level running low, so Kokichi decided to wrap this up.

Rantaro spoke before he did. "I guess that makes sense. Sorry if I was babying you, Kokichi. I've got twelve sisters, so..."

"Wait, twelve?!" Kokichi exclaimed, and his flabbergasted face betrayed his genuine surprise. _He didn't mention that last time, did he?!_ "You have an entire - you know what, nevermind, I don't want to know," he joked, and picked up his book as he stood to leave.

Rantaro was laughing hard, but managed to choke out, "Wait, Kokichi -"

"Nope! Goodbye! I do not desire to hear of how you originally had one sister but then she cloned herself, or how you messed up terribly while using a Double Summon card! That is a story I do _not_ need to hear!"

Rantaro was practically lying on the floor in his laughter by now, and Kokichi swept out of the library, cast a final, dramatic look at the inventor doubled over in laughter behind him, and gave a grin as he shut the door.

"Au revoir, mortal fool!"

_Click!_

...

"Wheeeew," Kokichi sighed as he slipped down the side of the door into a sitting position, the relieved sigh the only sound in the hall besides muffled laughter. Well, that was one person who would probably avoid bothering him for a while.

Especially since he made him laugh. Even though he only knew him for a short time, Kokichi couldn't help but feel like the loud laughter Rantaro gave was uncharacteristic of him.

Kokichi sat there, and thought.

...

_Right._

Kokichi got to his feet, brushing the dust he managed to collect while reading off his pants.

He still had some things to do.

Most notably?

Make sure Kaede doesn't murder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two orders of business involving comments:
> 
> 1\. I love all your comments, but please don't mention/reference genitals. It makes me uncomfortable. Thanks!
> 
> 2\. In the future, I might not be able to respond to every last one of you. I'll try my best! But holy freak there's a lot of comments sometimes. I'll probably answer eventually, but might not be for a while - or at all, actually. I still appreciate your comments, though!
> 
> (Neither of these are to say that you shouldn't leave comments! I still love and appreciate every last one of them - as long as they don't reference genitals, that is!)
> 
> Anyway, I'm gonna add my Tumblr blogs in my notes from now on in case you want to contact me on there (it's like. My only social media besides Twitter, which I'm not comfortable sharing), and because freak it, I'm gonna self-promo. So here you go:
> 
> Main blog: stillonthe1stseasonofsherlock  
> Art and writing blog: an-artist-with-a-writers-pen  
> Danganronpa blog (I recommend contacting me on this one!): himiko-yumehellno
> 
> Have a great day!


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